Is Garlic Good for Orchids? – A Surprising Hack for Keeping Your Flower Blooming All Year Round!

Do you want to keep your orchids blooming all year round? These beautiful plants are without a doubt a jewel that can uplift the appearance of the dullest of places! However, the maintenance of these tropical flowers certainly poses some challenges! My grandma once told me that the secret to keeping your orchids flourishing hides in the garlic. But is garlic good for orchids? And if so, how and why? Let’s learn more about this curious solution! 

What are the Gardening Benefits of Garlic?

This may come as a surprise to some of you, but garlic is actually a great fertilizer! Next time you cook with garlic, don’t throw the peel away! Instead, add it to your compost! The garlic peel is incredibly rich in nutrients. It boosts the growth of your plants while making them resistant to all kinds of diseases, including fungi, and deter grazing vermin. Other beneficial uses of garlic in the garden are:

• Moles repellent – Little did you know that garlic is actually a really efficient tool in the battle against moles. Its strong smell repels the nibbling pests right out of your gardening area!
• A great companion plant – It’s proven that planting garlic as a companion plant to various fruit and vegetables has many long-term benefits. It helps enrich the soil, keep some insects away, and is also a great way to fill some of your empty garden space during the fall.
• Keeps the mosquitos away – The battle with the blood-sucking mosquitos is a vigorous one. But even they are helpless afore the pungent smell of the good old garlic!

Is Garlic Good for Orchids?

There is no denying the benefits that garlic has not only for our health but for our garden, too! Cultivating tropical orchids in our environment is a difficult task both for us and for the plant itself. So what can we do to make this flower flourish in our home? The answer is simple – use garlic! Garlic is a superfood for orchids. It protects them from insects and bacteria and aids the blooming process.

Read also: Water orchids with ice cubes – myth or actually useful? We summarize the advantages and disadvantages

Why Do Orchids Need Garlic?

Garlic is a nutritious bomb for orchids. It’s packed with sulfur, vitamins, antioxidants, and amino acids. They will:

• Boost the formation of chlorophyll.
• Increase the orchid’s immunity.
• Aid protein synthesis.
• Prevent fungal infections.
• Speed up the flowering process.

Your orchids need garlic because it is one of the best fertilizers you can use to maintain their longevity. It’s one of the strongest fungi remedies and boosts chlorophyll production, which helps with root growth.

How Do You Use Garlic for Orchids?

There are two types of garlic remedies you can make to nourish your orchids – garlic water and an acidic infusion. The main issues with orchids are set at the roots where the fungal infections start. Any of these garlic concoctions will help you combat this initial problem which will then boost their blooming. These are the garlic recipes I’ve been using for my orchids that I swear by!

Garlic Water for Orchids

If you’re looking for a way to nourish your orchid’s roots, then garlic water is your solution! For these long periods of time when your orchid is being shy and refusing to bloom, this concoction will make it flourish in no time!

Ingredients:

• 200 grams of garlic
• 1 1/2 liters of distilled water

Instructions:

1. Peel the garlic.
2. Grind it. (If you don’t have a tool to grind it with, you can crush it and chop it instead.)
3. Pour the water into a pot and warm it up to 4o degrees Celsius.
4. Distribute the hot water into jars
5. Add an even amount of ground garlic to each jar.
6. Close tightly and shake until you get a homogenous mixture.

How to use:

Method 1: Pour the mixture into a spray bottle and apply it to the roots and the stems of the orchid. Be careful not to get any of it on the flower!

Method 2: Pour the garlic water into a bowl and lower the pot into it. Let it sit for 1 -3 hours. After you take it out, put a paper towel underneath the pot to absorb any access water. 

Note: Do NOT treat the orchids with garlic water more than 3 times a month!

Read also: How to water orchids properly: How often, how much and what kind of water?

Garlic Acidic Infusion for Orchids

If your orchids seem lifeless, you’ve tried anything to fix them but nothing helps – this is the solution you need! The garlic will help restore healthy levels of enzymes and amino acids, which then aid the production of proteins. These nutrients are vital for the blooming process of your orchids. Here’s what you’re going to need for this restoring garlic acidic infusion:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 liters water
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 tablet succinic acid

Instructions:

1. Pour the water into a pan and warm it up to 30 – 40 degrees Celsius.
2. Once the water is heated, add the succinic acid tablet and let it dilute.
3. Remove the pan with the water from the stove and let it cool down.
4. Grind the garlic.
5. Add the garlic to the water and mix until you get a homogenous mixture.
6. Pour the acidic concoction into a jar or spray bottle.

Note: The garlic acidic infusion should be stored in a refrigerator and used within 3 days.

How to use:

• Filter the infusion.
• Dilute it in hot water.
• Pour the acidic garlic concoction into a bowl.
• Take the potted orchid and dip it into the garlic acid.
• Let it sit for no more than 2 hours.

This infusion will help boost your orchid’s immunity and aid the blooming process. You’ll be able to see the results right after the first use!

Read also: Coffee Grounds for Orchids: An Effective Fertilizer or a Mistake to Avoid at All Costs?